May 18, 2007

Plant may employ up to 550; Former owner behind restart

By Tom Searls Charleston Gazette Staff Writer

New operators of the stamping plant in South Charleston promised up to 550 manufacturing jobs within five years Thursday during an announcement of the renovation and restart of the plant.
Ray Park, CEO of Park Corp., is the man behind the plan. Park Corp. owned and leased the building to former occupant Union Stamping.

Park drafted a former plant manager, John Wise, to be the president and CEO of what will now be called Charleston Stamping and Manufacturing Inc.

“The prospect of 550 good-paying manufacturing jobs is tremendous news anywhere in the country today,” said Gov. Joe Manchin, who put together a task force last summer to try to get workers back in the South Charleston plant. “The new enterprise was inspired by the business vision and sincere regard John Wise and Ray Park have for this state.”

The new company will continue to stamp steel and aluminum sheets into auto and truck body parts and build subassemblies for vehicle manufacturers. Park brought Wise, a 62-year-old native of England, out of retirement to take on the task. “This is the most exciting thing to happen to me in 20 years, since 1988,” said Wise. In 1988, Wise worked with Park to keep the stamping plant operating before selling it to another firm. Park said it was only natural for him to purchase the old plant’s equipment and start the plant back since he already owned the structure. “It’s fun to do something like that,” he said.

Wise and a group of about 20 others have evaluated the 922,00-square-foot facility and Park plans to invest about $35 million in refurbishing the plant with automated equipment, while repairing the roof, painting the facility and remodeling it. That amount includes a $15 million loan the state Economic Development Authority approved Thursday. “[Park] wanted to put this plant back together,” Wise said. That will include 45 large press-tending robots that will be used to automate four of the plant’s six lines. “We’re investing in technology because without technology we can’t be a success,” Wise said. He said the robots will be among the biggest in the industry and allow the plant to produce large auto and heavy truck parts. “We’ll be competitive today and for many years to come,” Wise predicted.

The old plant needed about 16 people working on a line. Those workers could turn out about 200 pieces an hour, Wise said. The robotic lines will produce 350 to 400 pieces an hour, he said.
“Robots are not replacing people, they are creating jobs,” Wise told the large group in Manchin’s reception room for the announcement. He and Park readily admitted they have no customers lined up, but believe if they renovate the plant, business will follow. “We believe when we get done with this plant and modernize it we will have no problems,” Wise said.

Park began the plant in 1969, spending about five years in the area. He then leased it to several firms, including Volkswagen of America. When VW announced it was leaving in 1988, Park Corp. bought the assets of the MacCorkle Avenue plant and kept Wise as the plant manager. In 1989, Park Corp. leased the building and sold the business to Checker Motors Corp., which operated it separately from its main business. In 1996, Mayflower Vehicle Systems took over the facility and then got out of the business in 2004. Union Stamping took over until 2006. “So once again I got John out of retirement and said, ‘I guess we’ll do this thing all over again,’” Park said.

In early 2006, the plant employed about 350 people and had an annual payroll of $14 million. That was down from almost 1,000 employees a few years earlier. Last summer, Manchin established a task force to identify ways to bring business back to the MacCorkle Avenue plant. He pulled together state, county and community leaders, along with help from the federal level. The group sent out a brochure espousing all the positives of the plant site. Kent Carper, Kanawha County Commission president, said “a lot of people threw the towel in” and believed the plant would never come back. “The city of South Charleston didn’t do anything,” he said. “The mayor at the time just said, ‘That’s the way it is.’” South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb did not return calls for comment.
“We, the people of Kanawha County and West Virginia, owe this governor a great, great deal of gratitude,” Carper said. He noted the plant will be taken off county tax books for several years, but said that doesn’t matter. “I can live with that. These are real jobs,” he said.

A number of county legislators were in attendance and said they found the news exciting, also.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha. “And this is wonderful news, particularly for South Charleston.” Five hundred new jobs, she said, “is something to look forward to.” “I think any time you can bring together these guys who have a proven record of success it’s the best possible scenario,” said Delegate Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha. Wise said the jobs will pay a “competitive” salary, benefits “and every employee will share in the profit of the company.”

The plant will hire 79 workers in the first year, increasing that to 140 jobs the following year and up to 200 by the third year, Wise said. By the fifth year it hopes to employ 550 workers. It’s not clear if the jobs will be filled through the United Auto Workers union, as they were under the plant’s most recent manager, Union Partners LLC of Cleveland. The plant’s closure last year was precipitated by Local 3399’s rejection of pay and benefits concessions. Park said in the past that union concessions would have been necessary to keep the plant running under Union Partners.
UAW representatives could not be reached for comment.

Those interested in applying for the first wave of jobs can start June 1. Positions will be open for manufacturing specialists and skilled trade positions.

To apply, contact WORKFORCE West Virginia at 558-0342 or (877) 967-5498 during the two weeks after June 1.

Staff writer Joe Morris contributed to this report. To contact staff writer Tom Searls call 348-5198.